Last year I put together this set as a musical tribute to my father and to father s and fathers figures everywhere. The response was overwhelming. I got many comment from listeners saying how much the liked the mixed and how it reminded the of they father or how they had lost their fathers and this meant a lot to them. As a result "Father Says" became and remains my most popular podcast/mix to date. So For all of those who loved it and for my new followers who my not have heard it. I'mn releasing it again in honor of Father's Day.

With this being father's Day Weekend I wanted to pay musical tribute to my father and to all the real fathers out there Happy father's Day. My father is a southern raised, God fearing, man full of home spun wisdom who did his best to provide for his wife and children. He would often spend time talking to us and me in particular (as I was his only son) in order for us to become self-reliant adults. I remember he would be fixing something around the house and would always tell me "come on son you need to learn how to do this, one day you will have a house of your own” as mentioned he was raised in the south during the '40 and '50 before moving to Chicago for good in 1957. He experienced, prejudice, segregation, and racism first hand, so he always taught us to know our history and be proud of who we were. He taught us how a good education, work ethic and self-respect would lead to a successful life. For all these things I'm thankful.

In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, was inspired to create a holiday honoring fathers. William Jackson Smart, her father, was a farmer and Civil War veteran that raised Sonora and her five younger brothers by himself after his wife, Ellen, died giving birth to their youngest child in 1898. While attending a Mother’s Day church service in 1909, Sonora, then 27, came up with the idea. Within a few months, Sonora had convinced the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA to set aside a Sunday in June to celebrate fathers. She proposed June 5, her father’s birthday, but the ministers chose the third Sunday in June so that they would have more time after Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May) to prepare their sermons. So it was that on June 19, 1910, Sonora delivered presents to handicapped fathers, boys from the YMCA decorated their lapels with fresh-cut roses (red for living fathers, white for the deceased), and the city’s ministers devoted their homilies to fatherhood.

So here's a set full of tracks reminiscent of my father's words of wisdom and inspiration. Hope as you listen it reminds you of the things your father or father figure would say to you. Enjoys and I wish you peace, love, and a happy Father's Day.